Jesus Appears at the Sea of Galilee John 21:1-3 “After this Jesus revealed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias (Galilee). And He did it in this way: Simon Peter, and Thomas who is called Didymus (the twin), and Nathanael from Cana of Galilee, as well as [John and James] the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said, “And we are coming with you.” So they went out and got into the boat; and that night they caught nothing.”
It’s always amazing to see someone have a valid experience with God, to meet the Holy Spirit intimately, start walking the walk of Faith publicly and yet when they go through a certain kind of Valley or feel Jesus is not with them and nobody understands or cares, they then want to go back to the old life. We call this being backslidden. Rather than “front slide” and stay in the fight and continue walking out their salvation with fear and trembling, they give up and backslide. After all “Jesus Understand” is what they justify in their minds. As if to say that the old life was the answer. Remember when you were young and you had a security blanket. Mine had satin around the edges and was real soft, I could rub the edges around my face, it was so smooth and nice, and comforting, until I got bigger and realized …
4As morning was breaking, Jesus [came and] stood on the beach; however, the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5So Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish [to eat along with your bread]?” They answered, “No.”
The most miserable people on the planet are backslidden Christians. They have lost the Favor of God, things just don’t go right. They are depressed and out of guilt they need to drag others along with them to support their “justification” or the reason they left the ministry or the Lord. Misery loves company.
6 And He said to them, “Cast the net on the right-hand side of the boat (starboard) and you will find some.” So they cast [the net], and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great catch of fish.
Then came Jesus, His loving voice gave direction. There was a specific side of the boat He suggested to try fishing again. Perhaps they had been fishing on left side. Perhaps they had been fishing on right and He wanted to show them that He could come right behind them, and do better. We just need to hearken His voice and Obey. Hear His voice and Obey. Life becomes easier, simpler, and sweeter when we Hear and Obey. Whatever He tells you to do, do it.
7 Then that disciple (John) whom Jesus loved (esteemed) said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer tunic (for he was stripped for work) and threw himself into the sea [and swam ashore]. 8But the other disciples came in the small boat, for they were not far from shore, only about a hundred yards away, dragging the net full of fish.
How would you have responded? Have you been out, naked, doing your thing and God rescued you, from yourself? Don’t ever criticize the overzealous. The one that raises their hands, shouts in Church, jumps out of the boat while you live in the comfort zone and cautious how you Praise the Lord or take the safe way back to Jesus, to the shore.
9 So when they got out on the beach, they saw a charcoal fire set up and fish on it cooking, and bread. 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish which you have just caught.”
Isn’t it nice when we go through an emotional season or situation, when you feel that Jesus abandoned us, that Grace wakes us up and reveals that He was there all along? He was actually preparing a fire, waiting while we were having our pity party in Egypt, backslidden, doing our own thing, on a boat somewhere. What’s your boat? What has God asked you to do, that you disregarded or felt “Nah I can’t do that”, “God could never use me that way”. Is your boat prosperity, poverty, relationship, loneliness, bad marriage or relationship you feel trapped in?
Jesus Provides 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared to ask Him, “Who are You?” They knew [without any doubt] that it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and likewise the fish. 14 This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples, after He had risen from the dead.
Has there ever been a time when you were separated from the Lord, that you could not or did not recognize His voice? There’s something about the Voice of Jesus when he speaks that cuts through all the noise and rebellion that we get ourselves into. Lord give us “Hearing Hearts”. Has there ever been a time that Jesus did not provide for you when you cried out in humility for His help?
Why 153? 11 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net to land, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three [of them]; and although there were so many, the net was not torn. This is where we go deeper in the teaching. Here is a possible explanation that I found on the internet:
“In the four gospels, 153 individuals received a blessing from Jesus in one form or another. Now we are aware, of course, that Jesus fed 5,000 in Matthew 14:13-21, but here we’re looking at individuals. It’s fascinating to note that in Hebrew, the word Passover has a mathematical value of 153 (See the Gematria Table). Passover is the event where blood was placed on the doorposts of the Israelites’ homes when they were slaves in Egypt. God sent the angel of death to kill all the firstborn in Egypt. But, the angel would ‘pass over’ that house if there was blood on the door (Exodus 12:11–14). All who entered in through that door would be spared. Typically, such doors consisted of three pieces of wood: two vertical pieces and a horizontal piece at the top, which formed a rectangular entrance, a door. Also, Jesus died during Passover (Matthew 26:2; Luke 22:1; John 13:1).
Finally, a small point is worth noting regarding John 21:6, where Jesus tells the disciples the cast their net on the right side. The right side represents salvation. The left represents damnation.
| The leper, Matt 8:2 | 1 | Man, deaf and dumb, Mark 7:32 | 1 | |
| Centurion and servant, Matt 8:5 | 2 | Blind man, Mark 8:22 | 1 | |
| Peter’s wife’s mother, Matt 8:14 | 1 | Son of the widow of Nain, Luke 7:12 | 1 | |
| Two possessed with devils, Matt 8:18 | 2 | A woman, a sinner, Luke 7:37 | 1 | |
| Palsied man and bearers [Mark 2:3], Matt 9:2 | 5 | Joanna and Susanna, Luke 8:3 | 2 | |
| Jairus and his daughter, Matt 9:18 | 2 | A disciple, “Follow Me,” Luke 9:59 | 1 | |
| Woman with the issue of blood, Matt 9:21 | 1 | The seventy disciples, Luke 10:1 | 70 | |
| Blind men, Matt 9:27 | 2 | Martha, Luke 10:38 | 1 | |
| Dumb man, Matt 9:32 | 1 | Woman with infirmity, Luke 13:11 | 1 | |
| Eleven Apostles, Matt 10:2 (11) | 11 | Man with dropsy, Luke 14:2 | 1 | |
| Man with the withered hand, Matt 12:10 | 1 | The ten lepers, Luke 17:12 | 10 | |
| The blind and dumb devil, Matt 12:22 | 1 | The blind man, while approaching Jericho, Luke 18:35 | 1 | |
| Brethren of the Lord [Acts 1:14], Matt 13:55 | 4 | Zaccheus, Luke 19:2 | 1 | |
| Syrophoenician woman and daughter, Matt 15:22 | 2 | Malchus [John 18:10], Luke 22:51 | 1 | |
| Lunatic child and father, Matt 17:14 | 2 | Penitent thief, Luke 23:43 | 1 | |
| Blind men while leaving Jericho, Matt 20:30 | 2 | The two disciples at Emmaus, Luke 24:13 | 2 | |
| Simon the leper, Matt 26:6 | 1 | Nicodemus, John 3:1 | 1 | |
| Mary, the sister of Lazarus, Matt 26:7 | 1 | Woman of Samaria, John 4:4 | 1 | |
| Centurion; Matt 27:54 | 1 | Nobleman and sick son, John 4:46 | 2 | |
| Salome, the mother of Zebedee’s children, Matt 27:56 | 1 | Impotent man in Bethesda, John 5:1 | 1 | |
| Mary, the mother of James, and wife of Cleopas, Matt 27:56 | 1 | Woman caught in adultery, John 8:11 | 1 | |
| Mary Magdalene, Matt 27:56 | 1 | The man born blind, John 9 | 1 | |
| Joseph of Arimathaea, Matt 27:57 | 1 | Lazarus, John 11 | 1 | |
| Man with an unclean spirit; Mark 1:23 | 1 | Mary, mother of Jesus, John 19:25-27 = (153) | 1 | |
| Total = | 48 | Total = | 105 | |
| 48 + 105 = 153 |
Whether or not you find this convincing, it is very interesting. In my opinion, this is an obvious demonstration of the inspiration of Scripture. Also, check out https://153-fish.org/list for another look at the same issue. In conclusion, The four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, were written years apart. How is it possible that John the apostle could have calculated the total number of individuals who Jesus blesses in the previous three Gospels? Did he have all three of them in front of himself, and he calculated them?
In his commentary on Ezekiel 47, Jerome linked the miracle of the 153 fish with the prophet’s vision of a river of life flowing out from the Temple in the Messianic Era. According to Ezekiel’s prophecy, the river will flow into the Dead Sea, turning the salt water fresh:
And it will come about that fishermen will stand beside it; from Engedi to Eneglaim there will be a place for the spreading of nets. Their fish will be according to their kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea, very many. (Ezekiel 47:10) Jerome believed that the miraculous represented the apostles bringing all nations into the kingdom. After all, the disciples were to be fishers of men: “The kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind” (Matthew 13:47). In that day, “Their fish will be according to their kinds … very many” (Ezekiel 47:10).
Augustine noted that the number 153 is a triangular number, the triangle of 17. (In fact, 153 is the seventeenth triangular number in the series of triangular numbers.) A triangular number is the sum of dots in an equilateral triangle formed from and filled by equally spaced dots. A triangular number is also the sum of all the natural numbers from 1 to the triangle of the number: 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9+10+11+12+13+14+15+16+17=153.
One scholar perceived a coded numeric-relationship between the numbers 17 and 153 and the Dead Sea locations mentioned in Ezekiel 47:10 where fishermen will cast nets during the Messianic Age. The numerical value for the word gedi (גדי) in the name “Engedi (עין גדי)” adds up to 17. The numerical value for the word eglaim (עגלים) in the name “Eneglaim (עין עגלים)” adds up to 153. Coincidentally, the Hebrew word gedi (גדי) is the one-hundred-and-fifty-third word of Ezekiel 47. These relationships might be coincidental, but the Ezekiel 47 imagery of the river of life flowing from within the Temple informs other important passages in John:”
Parallel with Gideon visitations and confirmations.
John 21: 14 This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples, after He had risen from the dead. Just like Gideon and so many others, God reveals himself to us over and over. He reminds us of our stubborn or insecure will and soul and say “I’m here”.
Our Times Are in His Hand so Follow Jesus no matter who gets what! 18 I assure you and most solemnly say to you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and walked wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and arms, and someone else will dress you, and carry you where you do not wish to go.” 19Now He said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. And after saying this, He said to him, “Follow Me [walk the same path of life that I have walked]!”
20Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; the one who also had leaned back on His chest at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray You?” 21So when Peter saw him, he asked Jesus, “Lord, and what about this man [what is in his future]?” 22Jesus said to him, “If I want him to stay alive until I come [again], what is that to you? You follow Me!”